01 Visual Strategy Guide
01 Visual Strategy Guide
BORDERS
VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE
PROLOGUE
The Visual Strategy Guide will serve to provide an overview and impression about Borders. It will be a set of information about the study of Borders including how the brand was in the past and how to develop the brand in the future.
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“Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or self-confidence.” ―Robert Frost, the Actor
BORDERS
VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE
02 Redirection 01 Brand Overview Brand Introduction History Timeline
NTENTS 00
Soul of the Brand Mission Statement Keywords Visual Grid
TABLE OF CONTENTS
04 The Competitors The Current Competitors The Adjacent Competitors The Aspirational Competitors
03 Target Audience General Introduction The Audience
CONT 00
BORDERS
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VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE
01 Brand Overview Brand Introduction History Timeline
BORDERS
VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE
Brand Introduction HISTORY SO FAR Borders Group, Inc. was an international book and music retailer based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In its f inal year, the company employed about 19,500 people throughout the U.S., primarily in its Borders and Waldenbooks stores. The original Borders bookstore was located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where it was founded in 197 by brothers Tom and Louis Borders during their undergraduate and graduate years at the University of Michigan. The fi rst Borders bookshop opened at 209 State Street, Ann Arbor in 1971. After Barnes & Noble, it was the second largest bricks-and-mortar US bookstore chain, known for the innovation of creating the f irst superstore. The group included Borders superstores, Waldenbooks, Borders Express and Borders airport stores. Where many booksellers—even other publicly-held bookstore chains—are closely identified with one owner, the Borders Group came together through corporate acquisitions.
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As it became clear that Online book retailing, begun by Amazon.com, was rapidly and dramatically changing the bookselling business, Borders created their Online presence. But after their initial e-retail efforts resulted in shortterm losses for investors, in what was in retrospect a short-sighted move, Borders scrapped its website. On February 16, 2011, the company announced that it had f iled for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, listing $1.275 billion in assets and $1.293 billion in debts in its f iling. The company also announced the liquidation and closing of 226 stores. The Borders Online store closed on September 27, 2011, at 10:30 pm Eastern.
CHAPTER 1 // BRAND OVERVIEW
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BORDERS
VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE
Timeline A brief line graph that documents and explain 10 important events happened to Borders so far.
Former Hickory Farms president Robert F. DiRomualdo was hired to expand the company.
The store was identified as “Borders #1� because it was the flagship store.
1971
1989
1992
1994
The original Borders bookstore was located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where it was founded by brothers Tom and Louis Borders.
The company established its first international store in Singapore.
Borders was acquired by Kmart, which had acquired mall-based book chain Waldenbooks eight years earlier.
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1997
CHAPTER 1 // BRAND OVERVIEW
Rebirth.
Borders reached an agreement with Starbucks subsidiary Seattle’s Best Coffee to operate cafe in its domestic superstores under the Seattle’s Best brand name. The last year made a profit.
1998
2004
2005
2006
2011
2019
Opened its first franchise store with Malaysia’s Berjaya Books Sdn. Bhd. in Kuala Lumpur.
Borders (UK) Ltd. was established as a Borders Group subsidiary and with its Borders and Books etc.
Bankrupt.
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BORDERS
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VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE
CHAPTER 1 // BRAND OVERVIEW
“If nature has taught us anything it is that the impossible is probable.” ―Ilyas Kassam
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BORDERS
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VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE
02 Redirection Soul of the Brand Mission Statement Keywords Visual Grid
BORDERS
VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE
SOUL OF THE BRAND
Breaking the borders with knowledge.
OBJECTIVE The borders group will keep its initial mission statement and develop e-book business to provide more convenient reading environment for people who love books and reading. It has a large potential for expansion in Online business if the borders takes in charge of its own sell and regulates the sell well. The borders will have less actual bookstores and try to keep them all in big shopping mall. Today, many people in the shopping mall still like a comfortable to rest at a comfortable place and have a nice cup of drink. The actual bookstore will mainly serve for advertising its Online store and also for the purpose of cafe library.
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CHAPTER 2 // REDIRECTION
MISSION STATEMENT
Breaking the borders with knowledge on a broad scale not only allows for the discovery of new ways of thinking, but also facilitates new modes of communication and enhances creativity.
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BORDERS
VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE
Keywords
Creativity “Creativity doesn’t wait for that perfect moment. It fashions its own perfect moments out of ordinary ones.” ―Bruce Garrabrandt
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CHAPTER 2 // REDIRECTION
Communication “Communication leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing.” ―Rollo May
Discovery “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” ―Marcel Proust
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BORDERS
VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE
Visual Grid The visual grid will describe the personalities of Borders through images. Each image shows one different aspect that Borders connects to its customers. The Visual grid will also brief ly direct how Borders would be re-branded.
CURRENT
Borders
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CHAPTER 2 // REDIRECTION
FUTURE
BORDERS
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“In today’s environment, hoarding knowledge ultimately erodes your power. If you know something very important, the way to get power is by actually sharing it.” ―Joseph Badaracco
BORDERS
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VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE
03 Target Audience General Introduction The Audience
BORDERS
VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE
General Introduction PURPOSE By definition, Persona is the aspect of someone’s character that is presented to or perceived by others. While in design aspect, persona is the arbitrary creation based on target audience. It briefly describes what kind of people in the real world would be or not be interested in the rebranding brand. Persona also examines how well the design understand the soul of the brand and the general population.
GROUPING The persona will be divided into 2 groups which cover both our target audience and common people who are not interested into Borders. In this way, we could investigate and study a larger range of potential customers.
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CHAPTER 3 // TARGET AUDIENCE
OUR TARGET AUDIENCE
NOT OUR TARGET AUDIENCE
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BORDERS
VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE
John Bell // the Reputed Chef AGE 65 // Restaurant Owner // Miami, FL
John loves collecting recipe books and decorates them in his restaurant. He prefers paper books because he likes touching the materials physically. Also, only paper books can gradually develop to own some special f lavors. John has been quite busy when he was still the main chef of the store. After his son and daughter have grown enough to take in charge, he develops an interest going to the bookstore and collecting good recipe books around the world. John sometimes will buy recipe books in different languages and ask his grand daughter to make notes on the book. Other than recipe books, John also likes reading books of modern literature because his grand daughter wants to become a writer.
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John cares about his family and he cares about his books as well. He believes that people who keep their books in a good condition treasure memories and family the most. John is in favor of traditional bookstores. However, after his grand daughter taught him how to read books on a tablet, he has purchased several books Online already. John likes to have a seat when he f inds a book he is interested in the bookstore.
CHAPTER 3 // TARGET AUDIENCE
Mary Wilson // the Future Biologist AGE 27 // PHD. Student // Sacramento, CA
Mary loves reading scientif ic books since she was young. Her grandfather worked in a chemistry laboratory and always told her what kinds of experiments he did. Although Mary’s grandfather has passed away for years, she values the memory with him a lot and has developed an interest towards science. Mary has two little brothers and her family is not very rich, so she has some diff iculties purchasing textbooks every semester.
Mary would like something to drink while she is reading. A good cup of tea can relief her tiredness. Mary found that there aren’t many pictures of animals in a biology textbooks chosen by her professor mainly because those with a lot visuals usually cost more. Mary would love to publish her own book about biology after she completes her doctor degree.
Mary visits the local bookstores and also her college bookstores regularly. She doesn’t mind reading electronic books, but she doesn’t have enough money to buy a tablet or an e-book reader. She studies hard. However, she found that it’s more comfortable for her to study in the bookstore because there aren’t many students around to make her anxious.
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BORDERS
VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE
Christine Smith | the Best Friend of Kids AGE 48 // Primary School Teacher // Portland, OR
Christine works at a local primary school, so she buys a lot of picture books and storybooks to teach little kids reading. She prefers books that talks about nature than fantasy books.
Christine’s family has Nordic heritage, so she is quite interested in Nordic culture and history of immigration. She has just finished a book on the sailing technology of the Vikings.
Christine prefers book with more illustrations and wider spaces between lines, because it would be easier for children to read.
It’s necessary for Christine to wear glasses when she reads, so she prefer to sit in the corner of the local bookstore for a few hours. She doesn’t like to stand by the bookshelf because it makes her dizzy.
Christine’s own daughter is preparing for SSAT, so she bought her books and Official Guides to prepare her for the exam. Christine likes to weave in her spare time, and she weaves Christmas sweaters for her family. She buys pattern books to help her with sweater designs.
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Christine has been the loyal customer to the local bookshop, and she has the email address of the store owner because she could order books through emails. Also, she is quite interested into the idea of Online bookstore.
CHAPTER 3 // TARGET AUDIENCE
Sean Marriott // the E-banker AGE 37 // Bank Manager // Vineland, NJ
Sean works in a local bank, and he is responsible for personal banking services. In order to work professionally, he subscribes many SNS accounts analyzing economic trends and foreign currency. Sean doesn’t mind paying for subscribed columns because he think it’s worthy to pay for the experts’ ideas. Sean orders the magazine the Economist each year, but he simply flipped over a few page and never read the articles patiently. However, he does read local newspapers carefully, so that he can have more subjects to talk about when he meet his clients.
Sean doesn’t care about where to buy the books. He buys book from amazon, seven eleven and local bookshops. He enjoys the reliable delivery service of Amazon Prime, because it’s efficient. Sean likes to travel, and he already bought four or five books from the Lonely Planet tour guide series. He plan to visit some of the European countries written about in the future. Sean prefers reading at home than in the bookstore, because he enjoys siting at his expensive sofa without disturbance of other customers.
Sean prefers to read on smartphone apps, because he can access the books anytime he want. He some time reads detective novels for leisure. Sean has an 8-year-old daughter. His daughter is crazy about Disney story books, and Sean will always buy the newest one after each movie come out.
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BORDERS
VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE
Juliet Marsh // the Young Philanthropist AGE 14 // Middle School Student // New York City, NY
Juliet started learning violin since she took orchestra class last year. Therefore, she goes to local book stores each semester to buy music theory books her school assigned.
Juliet lives near the local bookshop, so she often check out is there any discount going on. She once got a Dickens’ book for 8 dollar, that’s a bargain to her.
Juliet likes to read comics for leisure, but her mother doesn’t allow her to spend too much money on comics. She usually reads comics in the local library, yet she still wants to purchase the latest issues when she finds them in the local bookstore.
Juliet is comfortable with e-books, yet she doesn’t has her own amazon account. Therefore when she opens the app she can only read her mother’s books and recipes.
Juliet enjoys visiting bookstores, because she particularly like the paper decorations dangling from the ceilings. She buys the newest calendars and planners from local bookstores every years for the beautiful designs. Juliet is interested in photography, and she loves linger around the photography section. However, the books are so expensive that she cannot afford. Also, she loves taking photos of comic figures because she thinks it’s amazing that they are so lively out of comic books.
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Juliet’s name came from the famous Shakespeare play, and her family purchased the entire collection for her to read. She plans to read them next year to prepare her for her literature class.
CHAPTER 3 // TARGET AUDIENCE
Robert Jones // the PC nerd AGE 29 // Software programmer // Ann Arbor, MI
Robert is a loyal customer to the Amazon books stores in Seattle. He visits the store twice a month to see if there is any new books or electronic products, and he ended up buying more electronic devices than books. Robert got his Master degree in Artificial Intelligence, and he likes to buy influential books in that field. Robert is a fan of Tolkien and George R. R. Martin, and he loves to read other books in the fantasy genre. He likes to write he comment on the web page whenever he finish a book.
Robert enjoys the simplistic and modern design of Amazon bookstores. He also like the way how the bookshelves are arranged, because he finds it efficient to look for books he needs. Robert never buy books from convenience store because he thinks is a waste of time to local magazines and best-seller novels. Robert started to learn German last year, so he purchased a guide with book with a CD from the bookstore. He enjoys learning this way because he can plan his learning process in regards to his daily schedule.
Other than books, Roberts also likes to buy board games from bookstores. He sometimes would buy Sudoku or crossword puzzles to kill the time traveling on plane.
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BORDERS
VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE
Annie Green // the Soccer Lover AGE 41 // Accountant // Seattle, WA
Annie works for a small company running a renting business of sports goods for local schools. She is also very into various of sports, such as soccer and basketball. She is not very into reading and she doesn’t want to spend more time on looking at the screen during her spare time. Annie has two sons who are both in school soccer team. Their photos will be post on the school website and the local magazines. Annie collects those magazines but that’s one of the rare occasions when she wants to purchase a book. She would love to encourage her family and her friends to exercise more because it’s good for their health. Annie was in a school soccer team when she was in college. She is still an active person now and sometimes join a local female soccer contest because she loves running around.
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Annie passes by some bookstores when she walks home everyday from work. She sometimes goes inside to check out what’s new, but she can’t really understand the trend of books because she is not really into the currently issues. Annie doesn’t mind standing while reading because she thinks it’s a good exercise. Annie’s husband suggests some books for her, but Annie finds that it takes forever to finish a book because she doesn’t have enough patience.
CHAPTER 3 // TARGET AUDIENCE
Joe Thomas // the Reliable Salesman AGE 35 // Salesman // Washington, VA
Joe is not really into books unless there is a necessity for him to read some. He prefers spending time with his girl friend and his good buddies.
One other reason Joe prefers e-books is because he can use search tool to find keywords. In this way, he doesn’t have to read the whole book.
Joe is very talkative and he is good at persuading people to buy the products of his company. However, he found that it’s more effective when there is a paper brochure because customers seldom bother to download an electronic version.
Joe sells electronic products and he is very organized to keep the weekly schedule clear in his phone. Joe goes to bookstores sometimes because his girl friend would like to go.
Joe has a tablet and an e-book reader. He purchases some books regularly just to shows people that he “is” reading some books. Joe lives in a small apartment where he doesn’t have extra space for a bookshelf. So Joe prefers e-books.
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04 The Competitors The Current Competitors The Adjacent Competitors The Aspirational Competitors
BORDERS
VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE
Overview Exploring Competitors is a valuable endeavor because this process reinforces the current understanding of the brand soul and ensures to f ind more inspirations for the future of the brand. The competitors would be divided into three categories: the current, the adjacent, and the aspirational.
CURRENT The current competitors are those brand providing the same kinds of service as Borders does.
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Amazon Books is a chain of retail bookstores owned by Online retailer Amazon. As of 2018, Amazon Books has a total of seventeen stores, with plans to expand to more locations.
Anderson’s Bookshop has been selling books independently since 1875. Sharing a passion and knowledge of books to create lifelong readers.
Barnes & Noble, Inc., is a US bookseller. It is a Fortune 1000 company and the bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States.
Bookmans, off icially known as Bookmans Entertainment Exchange, is the largest used book retailer based in Arizona. It was founded in 1976 by Bob Oldfather, who is the current president of the company.
CHAPTER 4 // THE COMPETITORS
Books-A-Million, Inc., also known as BAM!, owns and operates the second largest bookstore chain in the United States, operating 260 stores in 32 states.
An independently owned and operated bookseller with 10 locations in California. Tracing the history back to 1851 making it the West’s Oldest Independent Bookseller.
Deseret Book is an American publishing company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, that also operates a chain of bookstores throughout the western United States.
Follett has been a trusted partner to Pre-K and K-12 schools, districts, and college campuses for more than 140 years, taking care of the critical details that make it easier for schools to run, teachers to teach and students to learn.
Half Price Books, Records, Magazines, Incorporated is a chain of new and used bookstores in the United States.
Books Kinokuniya is a Japanese bookstore chain operated by Kinokuniya Company Ltd., founded in 1927, with its f irst store located in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. It means “Bookstore of Kii Province”.
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BORDERS
VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE
ADJACENT The adjacent competitors are those brand providing the relative kinds of service as Borders does.
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Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfi eld, Minnesota. It was originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music.
McGraw-Hill is a learning science company and one of the “big three� educational publishers that provides customized educational content, software, and services for pre-K through postgraduate education.
ohn Wiley & Sons operates as a research and learning company worldwide. It operates in three segments: Research, Publishing, and Solutions.
eBay Inc. is an American multinational e-commerce corporation based in San Jose, California that facilitates consumer-toconsumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website.
CHAPTER 4 // THE COMPETITORS
Pearson VUE offers innovative computer based testing solutions through secure, electronic test delivery. Pearson VUE provides licensure and certifi cation.
BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc., commonly referred as BJ’s, is an American membership-only warehouse club chain.
Micro Center is an American computer department store, which has its headquarters in Hilliard, Ohio. It is one of the top 200 of America’s largest private companies.
Dell is a US multinational computer technology company that develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services.
Macy’s is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, as a Bloomingdale’s department store chain aff iliate.
YouTube is an American video-sharing website headquartered in San Bruno, California. Three former PayPal employees—Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim—created the service in February 2005.
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BORDERS
VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE
ASPIRATIONAL The adjacent competitors are those brand providing the some kinds of service that Borders does not provide, but hopefully would in the future.
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GameStop Corp. is an American video game, consumer electronics and gaming merchandise retailer. The company is headquartered in Grapevine, Texas, United States, a suburb of Dallas, and operates 5,830 retail stores.
Samsung is a South Korean multinational conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul. It comprises numerous aff iliated businesses, most of them united under the Samsung brand, and is the largest South Korean chaebol.
Sony Corporation is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in KĹ?nan, Minato, Tokyo. Its diversif ied business includes consumer and professional electronics, gaming, entertainment and f inancial services.
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology company with headquarters in Redmond, Washington. It develops, manufactures, licenses, supports, and sells computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services.
CHAPTER 4 // THE COMPETITORS
Facebook, Inc. is an American online social media and social networking service company based in Menlo Park, California.
Sonos is an American consumer electronics company based in Santa Barbara, California. It was founded in 2002 by John MacFarlane, Craig Shelburne, Tom Cullen, and Trung Mai, and is currently run by Patrick Spence.
Kodansha Ltd. is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in BunkyĹ?, Tokyo, Japan. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines Nakayoshi,
Shogakukan Inc. is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, manga, non-f iction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha.
On-Demand Publishing, LLC, doing business as CreateSpace, is a self-publishing service owned by Amazon. The company was founded in 2000 in South Carolina as BookSurge and was acquired by Amazon in 2005.
Rakuten Kobo Inc., or simply Kobo, is a Canadian company which sells e-books, audiobooks, e-readers and tablet computers. It is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario and is a subsidiary of the Japanese e-commerce conglomerate Rakuten.
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BORDERS
VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE
KEYWORDS Keywords shared by Borders and its competitors. Can be both positive and negative. This process mainly serves for understanding the brand and its competitors.
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CHAPTER 4 // THE COMPETITORS
EDUCATIONAL
HELPFUL
INNOVATIVE
INTELLIGENT
COMMUNICATIVE
AWARE
PROFESSIONAL
RELAXED
EFFICIENT
MODERN
TRADITIONAL
FAITHFUL
VARIOUS
ORIGINAL
ENTERTAINING
EVOCATIVE
SERIOUS
SUCCESSFUL
CREATIVE
CULTURED
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BORDERS
VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE
DESIGNER
INSTRUCTOR
Yue Du
Hunter Wimmer
TYPEFACE
CONTACT
Baskerville URW Azo Sans
yuedu@ucdavis.edu
SCHOOL Academy of Art University
PROGRAM School of Graphic Design
ADDRESS 79 New Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA 94105
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PRODUCTION Blurb Inc
Sources
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img1.cookinglight.timeinc.net/sites/default/files/styles/4_3_horizontal__1200x900/public/image/2019/05/main/roasted-chili-verde-chicken-enchiladas1706p56.jpg?itok=SCHRta7t www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/NINTCHDBPICT000459133002.jpg?strip=all&quality=100&w=1200&h=800&crop=1 www.moneycrashers.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/free-ebooks-download-sites-online.jpg